Caught With Your Pants Down
by Rivendell101
Summary: "Natsu freezes, his heart skipping a beat, blood turning to ice in his veins. Did—did the front door just unlock? That's not possible though. Lucy's dad isn't supposed to be home until—" Lucy's dad comes home from work earlier than planned and panic ensues. Natsu is caught with his pants down. Literally. (Rated T for language and suggestive situations/dialogue)
1. Caught With Your Pants Down

**Caught With Your Pants Down**

Above him, Lucy gasps, but this time it's not because of what he's doing with his tongue.

Natsu freezes, his heart skipping a beat, blood turning to ice in his veins. Did—did the front door just unlock? That's not possible though. Lucy's dad isn't supposed to be home until—

His heart lurches into his throat as he inhales sharply, waiting with bated breath for any other sounds to come from the floor below. Natsu's head tilts towards Lucy's bedroom door, head cocked to the side as he listens. Lucy's fingers curl tighter into his hair as he lifts himself off her, crawling up her body until his mouth is by her ear, breath fanning over her exposed neck. "I thought your dad wasn't coming home until later?" he murmurs, lips brushing her skin. She shivers, but he isn't sure if it's because of him or the fact that her dad might be home earlier than expected.

"He wasn't," she replies softly, hands slipping down to his shoulders. A shaky sound leaves her and he realizes she's laughing nervously. "Oh, he's going to kill you!" Her shoulders shake and she has to press her lips to his shoulder to stop herself from being too loud.

"Lucy!" he hisses back, glaring down at her. "This isn't funny!" Despite this, he has to fight back the smile twitching at his lips. There's nothing funny about her dad murdering him. Nothing at all. Except, this whole situation is so _them_.

They would get caught in the act like this. Of course they would. That's what always happens. Every single time they try to do anything, someone walks in. Gray, Gajeel, Erza—that one time with that stranger in the grocery store bathrooms. When Loke walked in on them and asked to join—which Natsu nearly killed him for. Or the time Elfman and Evergreen walked in on them during the Christmas party, because they were having the same thoughts as him and Lucy.

And now—now it's Lucy's dad and he's probably going to die. Jude is going to kill him and bury him in the backyard because he caught Natsu with his pants down.

 _Literally_.

Fuck his life.

Lucy shrieks when someone knocks on the door, and Natsu suddenly finds himself on the ground, winded as she kicks him off her. He blinks up at the ceiling, eyes wide in terror.

"Lucy?" Jude asks from the other side of the door. "Are you alright?" Natsu watches as the door knob jiggles, and contemplates jumping out the window and running for his life.

"I'm fine!" Lucy shouts back, jumping off the bed and dashing for the door, leaning her back against it. Her eyes meet his, her face pale and scared and Natsu can't find it in him to appreciate the sight of his half-naked girlfriend. "You just surprised me is all." She laughs awkwardly. "I didn't think you would be home so soon." Natsu misses his reply, but relaxes when he hears footsteps retreating from the door.

Lucy is on him in the next second. "Natsu, you have to get out of here," she hisses, looking around the room with wild eyes. "Dammit! Natsu, you idiot, where did you throw my underwear? Why do you have to be such an animal?"

He huffs, crossing his arms, still on his back as she disappears from his sight for a brief second, returning with a pair of panties in her hand. "Hey, you weren't exactly complaining when I took them off with my _teeth_." Her face turns red, but he can't tell if she's embarrassed or just really close to making him an unpleasant memory.

He hopes it's the first one.

She steps into her underwear, shimmying them up her hips slowly. Natsu sucks in a sharp breath, eyes following the motion. Suddenly, he doesn't care so much that her dad is home. "Why don't you shut your mouth and do something useful?" She shoots him a glare, crossing her arms over her chest. "And put your pants back on!"

Natsu ignores the last part, smirking. "With my mouth? Because if you sit down I can put it back on your—"

"Natsu!" she whisper-shouts, tossing a pillow at him. It hits his face, and he peels it away with a laugh, throwing it back at her. Sobering quickly, Natsu pushes himself to his feet, scooping his sweatpants and T-shirt off her floor, slipping the pants up his hips.

"So, how am I getting out of here?" he asks softly, looking passed her shoulder to the door. "I could just climb out the window," he tells her, gaze snapping back to hers. It seems logical enough to him. They're only on the second floor, so he can make it if he's careful.

Lucy shakes her head. "And have someone see you scaling the wall? Yeah, because that doesn't seem suspicious at all," she tells him. He can practically feel the sarcasm oozing from her words. "Besides, you have all of your Hockey stuff. I don't think you want to toss that out the window." He nods in agreement, hoisting his bag over his shoulder and picking up his hockey stick, pulling her into his chest with the other and pressing his lips to her temple.

"Looks like I'm using the front door than," he mumbles against her hair, squeezing her against his side tightly. "Think he'll kill me or just mutilate me a little?" he asks. Lucy giggles, arms slipping around his waist.

"I'll hold him back, you run," she jokes. Lucy nuzzles into his neck, kissing his shoulder lightly. "He said he was going to bed, so you should be fine. Just be quiet and try not to fall down the stairs."

"How encouraging," he murmurs, releasing her. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" He doesn't wait for an answer, just kisses her quickly and slips out the door.

He nearly makes it to the front door too.

But then the kitchen light turns on and he knows he's in big trouble.

Natsu curses silently, eyes squeezing shut.

"Hello, Mr. Dragneel," a polite voice says.

Natsu turns to the man in the kitchen with a smile. "Hello, Sir," he replies, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Jude looks at him, unimpressed as he sips his coffee.

"Is there a reason you were alone with my daughter while I was gone?" he asks, gaze hard, lips pressed into a tight line. "Alone. In her room. With the door locked." His eyes pierce through Natsu, who shrinks back slightly, feeling like his stomach is suddenly full of ice.

He coughs, trying to come up with an excuse. He glances at the ground, hands squeezing tightly. His eyes snap to the object in his hand, a smile creeping onto his face. "I was showing her my stick," he blurts, happy with himself. His smile falls away as he realizes what he just said. "Hockey stick!" he shouts, holding his hands up defensively. "Because I play hockey. I'm on the hockey team at school. I came here after practice. With my hockey stick. Which I was showing her," he babbles, wincing.

That couldn't have sounded more awkward. Well, looks like he's dead. Which sucks—like a lot. He was kind of hoping to go on a date with Lucy this weekend, but he can't do that if her father eviscerates him.

Jude cocks an eyebrow at him, taking another sip. "But she must have seen it plenty of times."

Natsu snorts. "You have no idea, Sir." The mug slips from Jude's hand and Natsu lets out a whine, wiping a hand across his face. "I fucked up," he whispers. He chuckles nervously. "I suppose you caught me with my pants down, huh?" he jokes.

Jude doesn't laugh with him.

"You're lucky that I didn't."

Natsu cringes. "I believe you." He glances at Jude, who merely shakes his head, gesturing to the door with one hand as he rolls his eyes. Natsu ducks his head, creeping to the door in shame.

"Oh, and, Natsu?" Jude calls after him. Natsu stops, but doesn't turn back, his hand firmly grasping the door knob. "I must say, that shade of red looks dashing on you."

His face flares as he wipes at his lips with the back of his hand. "Thank you, Sir."

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for reading! A second chapter will be coming shortly! Feel free to check out my other fics. As always, reviews are very much appreciated :3**


	2. Let's Talk About Sex

**Part Two is here! Enjoy!**

 **Let's Talk About Sex**

Natsu nearly has a heart attack when the front door opens, banging against the wall as Jude steps inside locking the door behind him. Natsu holds his breath, eyes wide as his girlfriend's father stops as he passes the living room, glaring sharply at the pair cuddled together on the couch—or, rather, at Natsu. Because Natsu hasn't been around much since the, umm, incident (which is a total lie. He's just been using the widow to get in). They're watching some romantic comedy—well, Lucy is watching, Natsu is more interested in playing with her hair than he whatever Gerard Butler is doing with Katherine Heigl.

"Hey, Dad!" Lucy calls out, not turning away from the movie. "How was work?" Natsu misses the reply, to engrossed with keeping his heart from beating straight out of his chest.

He can feel the other male's eyes bore into him from the side, and bites his lower lip, sweat beading at the back of his neck. Natsu tries to ignore the stare, not daring to return the look for fear of his life. He wants to live, thank you very much. Dying is not on his agenda today, or any other day for that matter.

Lucy threads her fingers through his, thumb sweeping across the back of his hand before her hand squeezes his gently. "Ignore him," she whispers, lips brushing his ear and sending a shock straight through him. "His pride as father and alpha male has been bruised a little, but he'll get over it." She places a soft kiss against his cheek—and Natsu swears up and down that Jude just _growled_ at him—curling into his side moments later, her legs tossed over his lap, fingers teasing the hem of his school jersey, daring to dip under and trace the skin above his hip.

He presses his lips against the top of her head, nuzzling her as he plays with her fingers, trying not to look completely tense. Fathers can smell fear, right? Okay, maybe that's just a wild animal thing but he's not taking any chances! Jude made the threat quite clear—having practically chased him out of the house by using Natsu's own awkward teenage-boyness against himself. The man is like a bear. A very scary, protective, _angry_ bear that wants to rip his head off for touching his cub.

Lovely.

What a time to be alive.

"You look different," Jude comments offhandedly. Natsu jumps in his seat, nearly tumbling off the couch he's so shocked. Holy shit! He thought the man left! He was definitely not expecting the man to talk to him—maim him, yes, but not talk to him!

Lucy twists in her seat, facing her father with a bright smile. What a traitor.

Natsu feels like his stomach is trying to leap out of his throat. He totally shouldn't have gone with the chili fries for lunch. Hmm, maybe he can use that to distract Jude before making a break for it.

As if sensing his thoughts, Jude clears his throat, crossing his arms and looking at Natsu expectantly, clearly waiting for a reply. Natsu's tongue feels heavy in his mouth, not moving even as he wills himself to say _anything_. Chancing a glance at him Lucy digs her elbow into his ribs when he takes to long to reply, prompting a hiss from the boy.

He swallows thickly. "It must be the lack of lipstick, Sir," he blurts not sure what else to say. A second later he feels like smacking himself. Shit, why did he say that? That's, like, the exact opposite of what he should have said. God he really needs to think a little before opening his mouth!

Jude looks taken aback, his eyes going wide and his mouth dropping open just a little bit as he stands there, clearly shocked. Next to him, Lucy groans dropping her head into her hands with a muffled curse.

"I mean, not that I wear lipstick a lot," he babbles, trying to fix his mistake. "I only use Lucy's sometimes!" Jude sends him a disturbed look and Lucy whirls around, shaking her head and clearly telling him to shut the hell up. "No, wait! That's not what I meant!" He should really just stop, but apparently his mouth and brain are _not_ on the same page. "I don't use her lipstick, but sometimes it gets on my face when we're kissing and there's not much I can do about that!" Great, now Jude just looks angry. Natsu should just grab the shovel and start digging. "Not that I kiss her a lot! Well, I kind of do, but only slightly more than what might be considered normal, and I just—"

Jude cuts him off, looking exasperated. "Would you two please join me in the kitchen?" It's technically a question, but Natsu is eight-hundred percent sure that it's not an option. Lucy's dad doesn't wait for an answer, just ducks out of the room and disappears into the dimly lit kitchen across the hall.

Lucy climbs off him, stretching slightly. Natsu's eyes follow the movement.

He'd like to thank his parents for bringing him into this world and taking care of him. He'd also like to thank Coach Fullbuster for being a great hockey coach and tolerating his sass during practice. And he'd like to thank Lucy for loving him unconditionally because that means a lot to him— _she_ means a lot to him. And while he's at it, he should probably thank Gray—that bastard—for being his best friend for years.

Lucy sighs when he doesn't stand, placing her hands on her hips and giving him an impatient look.

He looks up at her pleadingly. "Lucy, he's going to kill me," he practically whimpers, looking every bit like a puppy that's been kicked.

She rolls her eyes. "Natsu, he's not going to kill you." She clicks her tongue, looking at him like he's ridiculous. "Now get up and let's go talk to him."

He shakes his head, ignoring her. "You don't know that!" he argues, eyes wide. "He could be waiting in there for me to step in and then—BAM! Bye, bye, Natsu." He catches his lip between his teeth, worrying it.

Lucy sighs. "Natsu, if he really wanted to kill you, I'm sure he would have done it by now." He starts to argue but she sends him a sharp look. "Remember what happened last time?" Boy, does he ever. They'll have to try that again because holy shit was it good! Though, next time it would probably be good if her dad didn't come home early.

Lucy notices the goofy look on his face, her eyes narrowing. Her hand shoots out, swatting his shoulder.

"Ouch!" he yelps, more shocked than hurt. "What did you do that—"

"Focus!" she snaps yanking him off the couch. "Last time what we were doing was a lot more inappropriate than cuddling on the couch, and he didn't even do anything to you that time." True enough.

His gaze drops to the floor.

"Hey," Lucy murmurs, hands cupping his face, lifting his head so his eyes meet hers. Her gaze softens. "This talk was inevitable, but nothing bad is going to happen, I promise. He's just going to give us a stern talking to, maybe threaten you with bodily harm—but he won't follow through!" Natsu grins, placing a sloppy kiss on her forehead and letting her drag him across the hall.

Jude is sitting in the same chair he was the last time and Natsu kind of wants to throw up.

Lucy's grip on his hand tightens, as if sensing that he wants to run. The couple slide into the chairs across from Jude, Lucy biting her lip nervously and Natsu staring at the table.

Jude clears his throat.

"Let's talk about sex," he blurts.

Natsu's head snaps up eyes horrified—because holy shit he doesn't need the sex talk from his girlfriend's dad—a strangled sound leaving him, and Lucy looks absolutely mortified.

"Eww, Dad, no! Not the sex talk!" she complains, looking an odd combination of embarrassed and disgusted.

Jude narrows his eyes, crossing his arms. "I just want to make sure that you two know what sex is," he replies. "It's my job as a parent to make sure my kids know—"

Lucy groans, cutting him off. Natsu is still paralyzed in place. "Dad, I've known what sex is ever since I walked in on you and Mom—God rest her soul—when I was six." Natsu's head snaps in her direction, his mouth open in shock. What? She never told him this!

Jude looks equally horrified. "You remember that?"

Lucy pulls a face, wrinkling her nose. "Well, I wish I didn't."

He clears his throat awkwardly, casting a glance at Natsu—who's still frozen in shock. "Alright, but does he know what it is?"

Natsu snaps around, offended. "Excuse me?" he gasps. "I am eighteen years old! Yes I know what sex is!" He crosses his arms, suddenly grumpy and very, very offended. He isn't an idiot dammit! "I have the internet you know!"

The room falls silent.

If anything, Jude looks even more awkward. "That's not…" he trails off. "I know you two know what sex is," he explains awkwardly. "I just want to make sure you're both being…safe." The word hangs in the air, all three of them looking at anything but each other. "Look, I just want to lay down some ground rules if you two are going to be having—" he pulls a face, " _sex_ under my roof."

Natsu shrugs. "Well, it doesn't have to be under yours."

Lucy groans. "Natsu, shut up," she growls at him. He flinches, inching away from her. Maybe her dad isn't the one he should be afraid of.

He shifts in his chair, pouting slightly. "Well, it's true," he grumbles. This is not where he wants to be right now. He just wants to be curled up with his girlfriend, not awkwardly talking about sex with her dad. He's already had this talk with his own dad and that was less painful than this. Currently, he can list ten things he'd rather be doing than this. One of them being walking on burning coals, and another being eating Gray's sweaty practice socks.

The sweaty socks would be way better than this.

"I want to make it clear that I don't want grandchildren for a few more years," Jude tells them, linking his fingers together, his hands resting on the table. Natsu's heart skips a beat.

Children with Lucy would totally be doable. He'd like that more than anything else in the world—just, not for a few more years—like five years. Five is a good number. It's a solid number. He likes the number five!

Lucy blanches. "Dad, stop," she pleads, looking more and more uncomfortable every second.

Jude looks wounded. "I just want to make sure you're being careful," he mumbles.

"We are!" Lucy barks, shifting in place and twiddling her thumbs. Natsu stares at her fingers, entranced. "Now stop. Please," she adds as an afterthought.

Natsu clears his throat, ripping his gaze away from Lucy. "Yeah," he agrees with Lucy, "we're always careful!" He smiles at Jude. "And if I did get Lucy pregnant it would totally be an accident, and I'd—"

Jude shakes his head. "You know what?" he sighs standing from the table and looking incredibly tired all of a sudden. "Just do what you want." He skirts around the table, heading for the entrance.

Natsu grins. "Did you just give me permission to bone your daughter?" he asks cheekily, joking with the other male. Lucy groans, dropping her head onto the table. Jude freezes, one hand on the wall.

He doesn't glance over his shoulder. "I know seven different ways to kill you with a spoon," he says blankly.

Natsu's smile widens. "Noted!"

* * *

 **AN: Here's Pat Two! :D Reviews are appreciated!**


	3. Popping the Question

**Popping the Question**

* * *

Frankly, Natsu would rather be anywhere else than here, standing in front of his maybe-future-fiancée's father's house in a rumpled suit jacket that he probably stole from Gray with a sad looking bouquet of daisies and lilies on one hand, the other tapping nervously against his leg as he debates whether or not e wants to ring the doorbell. In fact, he can think of ten different things he'd like to be doing right now. Like, being on a date with his gorgeous girlfriend, or being attacked by his neighbor's evil Pomeranian, Sadie. Even getting a lap dance from Gajeel would be better than this, and Natsu really doesn't want a lap dance from Gajeel. Like, ever. That would be horrible, honestly.

His lips pull back in disgust, a shiver running through him as he tries to erase the thought from his mind.

There has never been a time Natsu's needed his brain bleached more than now.

Well, maybe that time he walked in on Jellal and Erza, but that's a whole other can of worms that he doesn't want to get into.

Shaking his head, Natsu rubs his free hand across his face roughly, sighing in utter defeat before blindly reaching out for the doorbell. He misses the first time, but doesn't bother to open his eyes to make things easier. No, instead he just stands there on Jude's doorstep, mashing at the door in hopes of finding the button. Which sounds a lot like what happens when he and Lucy—

The bell rings, surprising him so much that he nearly drops the flowers—why did he even buy flowers in the first place? That was a stupid idea. Jude might not even like flowers. You know what, he's probably just fucked himself

The door swings open a second later and suddenly he's looking up at Jude Heartfilia, who looks less than pleased to see him. That's fine. Natsu doesn't need Jude to like him. Nope, not at all. It's not like he's here to ask for the man's approval or anything.

Fuck.

Jude glares—okay, it's not so much a glare as it is a _what the fuck are you doing at my door you shithead_ , but whatever—down at him, brow raised quizzically as he looks from Natsu's face to his too large jacket to the flowers tucked under his arm. His eyes meet Natsu's again, even more confused than before, but he says nothing.

Natsu clears his throat, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Hello, Sir." He tries to smile, he really does, but his lips only twist into a nervous grimace.

Jude blinks at him and Natsu fights back the urge to comment on his pink bunny sippers.

"You do know that my daughter doesn't live here anymore, don't you?" Jude finally asks, slowly, squinting at Natsu as if the other man is completely clueless. And sure, Natsu isn't the brightest bulb in the pack, but he's not a complete ditz.

Natsu forces a grin. "I'm aware," he bites out sarcastically. It's not like he and Lucy have been living together for the past two years. It's not like they bought a house together and fixed it up. It's not like Natsu is _completely clueless thank you Jude you bitter old man_.

Jude nods, unaware of what's going on in Natsu's head—and thank god for that! Jude probably would have killed him years ago if he knew exactly what was going on in Natsu's head.

"And you do realize that you're not supposed to bring me flowers, right?" he says, gesturing to the rumpled flowers tucked under Natsu's arm. The lilies are drooping sadly and the daisies are practically falling apart, petals littering the ground beneath Natsu's feet. Great, now Jude can hate him for making a mess! That's awesome!

Natsu sighs. "I panicked," he admits, holding out the sorry looking bouquet, gaze falling to the ground. Dearly departed, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life and death of Natsu Dragneel, who died trying to talk his girlfriend's father into letting him marry her. It didn't end well.

Jude nods as he takes the flowers. "Want to come in?"

"No…" Natsu trails off awkwardly. Jude blinks at him and Natsu realized that might have been offensive. "I'd rather stay out here in case you try to kill me. It's easier to run."

Jude shrugs. "Fair enough." He leans against the doorframe. "Now, is there a reason you're here, or do you just enjoy wasting my time?"

Natsu really wishes he had made the crack about the bunny slippers.

"Well," he starts, "I was kind of going to maybe ask if you'll possibly let me marry your daughter?" You know, just maybe. Only if Jude is feeling up to it of course. Not that Natsu really needs permission, he just thought it was the nice thing to do. It's not like Lucy's going to say "no" anyway. He was just trying to be polite. Whatever, Jude doesn't even have to be invited to the wedding. Suck on that, old man.

"And what if I say 'no?' " Jude asks him curiously.

Natsu shrugs. "Then you're a dick and I don't need your permission to do anything."

Jude makes a face at him, crossing his arms across his chest. "Now why would I want someone that calls me a dick to marry my daughter?"

"Because I'm honest and not a pushover?" Natsu asks him, wondering if he should just grab a shovel and save Jude the trouble later.

Jude cracks a smile and Natsu thinks that might be a good sign that he's not going to die tonight. He wants a wedding, not a funeral, thank you very much.

"Maybe I want you to be afraid of me," Jude laughs—more like _cackles_. Natsu's going to have to ask Lucy if her dad's a witch, you know, assuming he lives—grinning at him.

"Trust me," Natsu responds, laughing back awkwardly, "I've been afraid of you since you caught me leaving your house in the middle of the night with lipstick smeared across my face." He gestures to his mouth, kind of wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

"Was that the night you told me you were showing her your hockey stick?" the other man asks him, lips twitching.

Natsu nods. "Yes, Sir, it was, and to this day I still think it would have been more beneficial if I had just grabbed a shovel and dug my own grave," he admits, laughing again. It's higher pitched than usual, nervous and Natsu's pretty sure Jude can smell fear.

"Oh, I think you did that just fine regardless," Jude tells him.

Natsu isn't quite sure if it's a joke or not.

"Thanks," he replies slowly, "that's very encouraging."

Jude nods once, then straightens. "Okay," he tells Natsu, nodding once more. Then he turns around and starts to shut the door.

Natsu's hand shoots out, grabbing the door and preventing Jude from shutting it. The other man looks back at Natsu questioningly, but says nothing as Natsu stares at him in utter confusion.

"Okay?" he echoes loudly, completely bewildered, hand slipping from the door.

Jude narrows his eyes. "That's what I said, 'okay.' " He tries to shut the door again.

Natsu stops him a second time. " 'Okay' as in, _okay you can ask Lucy to marry you and I won't try to talk her out of it_ , or _okay I've heard your point but my answer is no_?" he babbles, trying to force the door open further, to no avail.

Jude shakes his head sighing. "I can't for the life of me understand how she puts up with your nonsense, but okay."

He shuts the door.

" 'Okay' what!?"

By the time Natsu returns home, he's more confused than ever. Jude adamantly refused to open the door and explain what exactly he meant by 'okay,' even as Natsu continued to bang on the door for nearly a half-hour before giving up completely. In hindsight maybe he should have called Gajeel. He's pretty good at breaking and entering. Though, that probably wouldn't be the greatest idea, considering he and Gajeel would likely end up in jail and he'd have to call Lucy to bail them out and he really doesn't want to propose to her from behind bars.

As hilarious as that would be, Lucy probably wouldn't be amused.

Gajeel certainly would, though.

Natsu sighs and shakes his head, shoving open the front door. It creaks lowly as he does, but Natsu doesn't mind. It gives the house character, after all. He grins. "Lucy! I'm home!"

He gets no response.

Frowning to himself, Natsu walks further into the house, about to walk upstairs before hearing a curse come from the kitchen.

And there's Lucy standing by the counter. And there's their little Russian Blue, Happy, sitting at her feet. And there's the ring, sitting on the counter where he left it.

And they're all covered in pink frosting.

Well, shit.

Lucy's head snaps up, eyes wide as she peers at him, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights. Well, a very cute deer that's covered in bright pink frosting and doesn't look to be wearing any pants.

Not that he's complaining about that.

He can make due with no pants and frosting. In fact, that sounds a lot like the Christmas party last year, which was fantastic!

Lucy stares at him as he walks into the kitchen slowly, and Natsu can only blink back at her with wide eyes and a jaw slightly dropped, because _wow there is frosting everywhere_ and Lucy is literally less than a foot away from the ring box. Great, so much for a surprise. Well, at least one of them is surprised. "You have frosting in your hair," he tells her, gesturing to the globs of frosting streaked through her blonde hair. That's going to be a pain to clean up later.

She gives him a strange look. "And you have pink hair," she huffs, shrugging and looking at him like she does when she's won an argument. Yeah, okay Lucy, you totally won that one.

He nods. "So…" he starts slowly, looking down as Happy walks up to him and begins to wind around his legs, smearing frosting against his pants. Awesome. "What exactly happened?" Actually, he probably doesn't want to know.

Lucy braces her hands against the counter, heaving a sigh. "Well," she says, "I found the ring on the counter about an hour ago, because you left it there. Nice job by the way," she jokes, grinning at him.

"Thanks," Natsu responds, sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

Lucy only smiles wider. "I was going to make cupcakes to celebrate, because it's not like I was going to say no, and there was a little," she wiggles her fingers at the mess, wrinkling her nose, "accident with the frosting."

He frowns. "A _little_ accident?" he asks her lightly, peering around the room. He's not sure why that's what comes out of his mouth, considering she just said she wanted to marry him, but oh well! Too late now!

"Yeah," Lucy tells him, "just… tiny one." She holds up her finger and thumb for emphasis, holding them close together to show just how little of an accident it was.

He nods and steps forward, walking up to her and wrapping his arms around her middle. "I love you," he tells her, ducking his head to kiss her cheek, which gets him a mouth full of frosting, but hey, that's fine too!

She leans into his, turning towards him and looping her arms around his neck. "I love you, too."

Natsu smiles down at her. "So, I went to talk to your dad today, you know, about proposing."

"Ooh," Lucy winces, fingers slipping through his hair. "How'd that go?"

Natsu shakes his head. "I'm not entirely sure." Natsu's pretty sure it was a yes, but there's still a slight chance Jude might come after him with a chainsaw. At least Natsu will be ready when he does.

"Hey," Lucy whispers, tugging at his hair lightly. He meets her eyes again, and she gives him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about ruining your proposal," she tells him. "I should've just pretended not to see it."

Natsu shakes his head. "Don't worry about it," he whispers, kissing her forehead. "I probably would have found a way to ruin it myself." She giggles and Natsu laughs with her. Honestly, he didn't have much a plan. He was just going to get on one knee and blabber until she started crying and agreed to marry him. That seemed like the most solid plan.

"If it helps, I didn't open it."

Natsu laughs and disentangles himself from his girlfriend, sweeping the ring box off the counter and dropping to one knee in front of Lucy, staring up at her with heartbreakingly honest eyes. "Well, Lucy, we've been dating for six years now, and god that's kind of a long time," he marvels, trailing off. "Anyway! You are my best friend, my rock, and I can't imagine you not being by side for the rest of our natural lives." And takes a deep breath. "There's no going back for me—no walking away." His palms feel sweaty and gross as he reaches out for her hand, but hopefully she doesn't notice. He's not entirely sure why he's so nervous all of a sudden, considering she already said she'd marry him, but hey, Igneel always told him that if you're not nervous when proposing, you probably aren't marrying the right girl.

He takes a deep breath. "I know your favorite color is lilac, even though I honestly can't tell the difference between that and any other shade of purple." She giggles. "Why does there need to be fifty different names for colors? This is just like when we were picking out paint colors, because I swear there was absolutely no difference between—where was I going with this? Oh my god," he groans as he realized he was blabbering, rubbing his hand down the side of his face and releasing the most god-awful whale sound.

Lucy bursts into laughter, and admittedly he would've too if he wasn't, you know, _proposing_. Anyway, Natsu kind of wants to die right now, because he still managed to screw up the proposal. Well that's just great.

You know what, fuck it. He shakes his head and smiles up at her. "So, Lucy Heartfilia, even though this proposal was a complete disaster and we're both covered in bright pink frosting, I'm asking you to marry me." He wiggles his eyebrows at her and she shakes her head, laughing. "What do you say? Wanna get married?"

She laughs as she pulls him to his feet and loops her arms around his waist, giving him a squeeze. He grins and returns the hug. "That was a beautiful proposal, really," she tells him as he slips the ring onto her finger without a second thought. "How could I possibly say no to that?"

He ducks his head and presses his lips to hers sloppily, smiling against her as she rights their mouths, arms looping around his neck as she presses up on her toes, fingers tugging at his hair. He kisses her harder, his head practically spinning. Natsu's teeth nip her lower lip and she breaks away, breathing heavy as she rests her head against his collarbone, one of her hands slipping down to his chest, playing with the collar of his shirt. His arms wrap around her back, fingers tracing small circles against her spine gently.

She tastes like frosting, he notices. Sweet. Or maybe she's always tasted like that.

* * *

 **AN: This is the last of this three-shot... thing. Then again, that's probably what I said about the last chapter. Basically these one-shots are all birthday presents for people and I try to keep them connected.**

 **Anyway! I hope to update a few more fics this week! I'm also starting my very first PJO fic, which should be exciting.**

 **Have a great day everyone!**


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